Chennai, July 8: Local lad Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) ended the weekend on a high by achieving a double in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018 concluded at the MMRT here on Sunday.

In a virtual repeat of Saturday’s Race-1, Sethu scored another win over National champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) who, after leading for much of the eight-lap race, yielded ground and finished second ahead of Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing). The double win took Sethu to the top of the championship standings with 70 points, well clear of defending champion Jagan (62).

Also scoring wins today were Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon who led a 1-2 finish for Gusto Racing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, Naresh Babu of RACR (Pro-Stock 165cc) and Karthik Mateti who headed a Sparks Racing podium sweep in the Novice category while also setting a lap record in this class.

Sethu and Jagan were again locked in a tight fight from the start. Pole-sitter Jagan, though managed to stay ahead of Sethu, could not pull away. In the penultimate of the eight-lap race, Sethu finally moved past Jagan to emerge comfortable winner.

Amarnath Menon was involved in a three-way battle that included yesterday’s Race-1 winner and team-mate Sathyanarayana Raju and Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah). As the race progressed, Menon and Raju swapped lead positions lap by lap while opening up a gap on Arunagiri. Eventually, Menon got his nose in front and hung on to win his second race of the season with Raju in second spot followed by Arunagiri. Menon now heads the championship in this class with 72 points, 11 clear of Raju.

Earlier, Sparks Racing team swept all three podium spots in the Novice (Stock, 165cc) category race with Mateti, a 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, Aditya Rao (Bengaluru) and Alexander AS (Chennai) taking the chequered flag in that order after a close fight. After two rounds, Mateti and Rao are tied with 43 points apiece, having one race apiece.

It was a fine win for rookie Mateti who is in his first full season of racing. He had participated in a few rounds of a one-make series last year before running out of funds. “I did not have much clue about racing bikes last year until I joined Sparks Racing. Today, it was a tough race and happy to win,” said Mateti who bettered the lap record set by Sathyanarayana Raju when he posted a best lap of 02mins, 07.492secs.

Chennai, July 7: Teenager Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing kept his wits about to win a tense battle against his arch-rival and defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class at the MMRT on Saturday in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

Equally impressive winner was the techie from Bengaluru, 23-year old Anish Shetty, who survived a close battle that went down to the wire, to finish on top in the Pro-Stock 165cc class. It was Shetty’s third win in a row, this season.

The combined race of Super Sport Indian and Pro-Stock 165cc was reduced from six laps to four following a heavy crash before Turn-3 resulting in a red flag on the very first lap. One of the riders involved in the incident, 21-year old Prashanth Kumar (Sparks Racing) from Karimnagar, Telangana, was immediately rushed to the hospital where he is said to be in a “critical, but stable” conditions after suffering multiple injuries.

On re-start, it was a virtual sprint thereafter, as Sethu, starting second on the grid behind Jagan Kumar, bided his time before the TVS racer ran wide in the penultimate lap. It was just the opening Sethu was waiting for, and he made his move and, held position for his first win of the season. Behind the front runners, championship leader KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) fell at the Bridge Complex “S” when running in the front bunch and eventually finished sixth. Jagan crossed the finish line in second position, followed by Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) to complete the podium.

Chennai, July 4: The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship will be shifting gears here this weekend when the second round is held at the MMRT track which will witness a total of 16 races across various categories. The programme also includes the first round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship 2018 on Sunday.

Races will be held in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class besides the Pro-Stock (301-400cc and 165cc), Novice (Stock, 165cc) and Girls (Stock, 165cc) categories. Further, two of country’s leading bike manufacturers, Honda and TVS, will be running their own One-Make Championships in association with the MMSC, in the Open and Novice categories.

The most significant development is that for the first time ever in the National championship slick tyres will be used in races. MRF will be supplying slick tyres for the Super Sport Indian 165cc and Pro-Stock 301-400cc categories. This is a path-breaking move as the MRF slick tyres are expected to see improved lap timings in view of the better traction, especially through the corners, they afford than the conventional tyres.

Ahamed, the 20-year old who made his debut in this class in 2015, rode another fine race to notch his maiden double even as reigning National champion and team-mate Jagan Kumar, who had finished second in the first race of the double-header yesterday, crashed following a front tyre deflation on the 10th lap and limped home sixth despite clocking the fastest lap of the race.

Finishing second behind Ahamed was team-mate Deepak Ravikumar as TVS Racing completed their second 1-2 finish of the weekend. Honda Ten10 Racing’s Mathana Kumar was a disappointing third after leading in the opening two laps before dropping down to third as Ahamed and Jagan overtook him. After Jagan crashed, Mathana had a moment with a backmarker and saw Ravikumar move past him in the closing stages of the 15-lap race.

“I am very happy with the double. It was a tough race, but I managed to hang on to my first place, especially after Jagan crashed,” said Ahamed.

Coimbatore, June 9: KY Ahamed rode a brilliant race to lead a TVS Racing 1-2 finish in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class in the Rolon Round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday.

Finishing behind Ahamed, who started the race from fourth on the grid, was team-mate and reigning National champion Jagan Kumar, and pole-sitter Mathana Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing in a race that was delayed by rain.

Ahamed had a strong start as he slipped past Sarath Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) to third position. Stepping up the pace, he soon caught up with Jagan and Mathana, and overtook them by the end of the second lap. Once in the front, Ahamed did not look back despite his visor getting fogged and at times missing the braking points.

“It was a tough race and I got to the front by the end of the second lap. However, as the race went on, my visor began fogging. I had difficulty in finding the braking points on the track, but somehow managed to hold it together,” said the 20-year old from Chennai.

The race was re-started when Prabhu Arunagiri’s bike engine blew in the very first lap on the start-finish straight leading to a red flag and a “quick start”.

Earlier, local lad Antony Peter (Vortex Racing), a 22-year old automotive engineering student, won a tight race in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class that was red-flagged due to sharp showers and reduced to seven laps from the scheduled 10.

Starting from fifth on the grid, Peter, who had finished fourth in the championship in this class last year, quickly moved up and tucked in behind leader Peddu Sriharsha (Sparks Racing) from Hyderabad before going to the front in the fourth lap. He then maintained his lead before the race was red-flagged for a creditable win.

Coimbatore, June 8: Reigning National champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing set the benchmark in the premier Super Sport Indian (165cc, Open) class by topping the time sheets in free practice session as the Rolon Round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at the Kari Motor Speedway, here on Friday.

Jagan, who notched his sixth consecutive National title last year, displayed good form as he clocked a best of one minute, 12.686 seconds, ahead of TVS Racing team-mates Deepak Ravikumar (01:12.959) and KY Ahamed (01:13.449).

Also among the quicker riders of the day was Prabhu Arunagiri of Team Alisha Abdullah who topped the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class practice session with a 01:12.698, while last year’s winner in this category Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing India) was the fourth (01:13.503) behind team-mate Satyanarayana Raju (01:12.923) and Faraz Shariff (01:13.468), a private entrant from Bengaluru.

In the Pro-Stock (165cc) class, Anup Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) was the quickest with a timing of 01:15.959), well ahead of Anish Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing, 01:17.592) and Kevin Kannan (Rockers Racing, 01:17.825).

Meanwhile, in the girls championship (Stock 165cc), Ann Jennifer clocked 01:25.797 to top the practice session in this category while last year’s first runner-up Ryhana Bee was second fastest in 01:26.353 with Shruthi Nagarajan coming in third at 01:26.873.